Technology is very useful and yet it is so easy to use it to waste time and avoid face-to-face interaction (“If I’m on my phone no one will want to interrupt me and talk to me”) This is why it is good to voluntarily pull ourselves out of it every now and again.

I don’t have a cell phone. I’ve begun to think of things I could do with one that would be more convenient, but I’m still okay without it. I do have a Macbook though, and that feels very much like a necessity. And sometimes I feel like I waste time on it, so I have to pull myself out of it and do something active.. until I think of another something to write about.

Technology helps those of us who aren’t naturally organized keep track of our lives.

I remember when my dad bought one of the first Apple computers back in 1982. I cried because I was hanging onto the idea of being Laura Ingalls Wilder. I’m so over that.

If having an iphone or a snazzy laptop were a bad thing, then I’m sure somebody would mention it at General Conference. As long as you don’t go into debt, who cares?

(I do put my foot down as far as a Nintendo DS goes, though. My kids are zombie-ish enough as it is. And I don’t have a TV. But that’s just because I hate deciding which TV shows are OK for my kids to watch. How about none of them?)

P.S. Heather, my Macbook Air could kick your Dell’s butt.

I think that whatever we feel is “normal” is awfully hard to live without much less feel grateful for. When you live in a society where paying hundreds of extra dollars for a “cool” phone, where the number of computers you own rivals the number of people in the family, where you don’t give dishwashers, washing machines, or refrigeration a second thought, you are likely not to feel special gratitude; instead you will probably feel entitled and justify why it makes sense for you to have those gadgets.

The post is good evidence of reflection, but it seems to include as much justification. I liked the comment that mentioned treasuring these material things. I see more and more people with digital scriptures at church and I understand the convenience, but when I am sitting beside a sister in my ward who works two jobs and still can’t afford health insurance for her family, I would feel like a complete ass pulling out my iphone to read my paragraph from the lesson manual.

Besides the GPS feature and the GroceryIQ app, I probably use my phone mostly to play solitaire and read my scriptures because I can actually hold it and feed my baby at the same time! And if it weren’t for the calendar’s Alert function, I would never be anywhere on time. The brightly colored case (see reference to clumsiness above) makes it super easy to find in my diaper bag as well. And I can use it calm my 3-year-old down by letting him watch videos of Yoda on Youtube. What did I do before it?

However, there are times when I wonder if I am becoming too dependent on technology. Then I just remind myself of the time I spent in Brazil as a missionary–I remember well how to do all my laundry by hand in a washtub, and what it is like to not have indoor plumbing, or have to wait 3 months to get an answer to a question you asked your parents in a letter. Those memories make me feel extremely grateful for the temporal blessings I have, and reassure me that if for some reason all of the modern conveniences I have today disappeared tomorrow, I would still be fine. A whole lot busier, but still fine. In the meanwhile, I’ll enjoy my iPhone!

Can I add, though, for all those people who are saying they want an iPhone but don’t want to pay the exorbitant fees to AT&T : consider just getting an iPod Touch. It’s pretty much an iPhone without the phone. You can still use all the same apps as long as you have access to a wifi connection.